The head of United Nations Humanitarian Affairs leaves Sri Lanka “disappointed”. John Holmes did not get a “green light” from the government to send a humanitarian team to the region where the Tamil Tigers are entrenched, surrounded by the army which intends to end a separatist rebellion that began in the 1970s.
At least 50,000 civilians are stranded in the northeast of the country, on a coastal territory that is shrinking day by day. Less than 10 square km now. They survive in the worst hygienic conditions. A humanitarian catastrophe is thus underway. In London on Monday, as has been the case regularly for a few weeks, Sri Lankans demonstrated to demand an immediate ceasefire. The British, French and Swedish foreign ministers will travel to Sri Lanka on Wednesday to attempt a new mediation.